Francis:
He had lived with a family with five children, who has not been taught about consideration or kindness to animals.
They had tormented the poor little cat mercilessly, the parents admitted this in a matter of fact manner to the staff, seeing nothing wrong in their delightful offsprings behaviour. The cat had started defecating in terror, and it was this that made them give the cat away.
He was a sweet cat, who settled down without a problem. He was probably so relieved to be away from the hell he'd been living in.
An innocent animal, living in pain and fear because a bunch of children were allowed to do whatever they wanted, with no consequences.
Horrible, isn't it?
It truly is.
They learned that somewhere, you know. Somewhere along the line they learned that you can do whatever you like to someone or something powerless. They either saw someone treating someone else or something else like that or they experienced it themselves.
It's a shame that your post ended there, with concern for the cat, because the cat most likely isn't the only victim in that case.
You could learn a lesson from the Humane Society of the United States:
'...we must recognize that children who deliberately abuse animals—or talk about animal abuse in the home—are crying out for help and need immediate attention....'
'...Children who abuse animals are often victims of abuse themselves or have witnessed domestic violence...'
www.humanesociety.org/parents_educators/childhood_cruelty_breaking_cycle_abuse.html